It’s a very important thing to learn to talk to people you disagree with – Pete Seeger
This is really the paradox of our industry. We’re struggling to find staff, yet in countless kitchens out there, chefs are dropping like flies because of our inability to engage with someone who challenges our expectations. It’s easier to sabotage their progress, set them up for failure or make them feel unwelcome on the team. This might not be the way you do things, chef, but this isn’t uncommon in our workplaces, is it?
The truth is that each of our relationships mirror to us where we need to grow. When we’re triggered by someone, we need to look at ourselves and our reactions. Not from a place of judgement, but more out of curiosity: why is what they’re saying or doing making me react this way? What’s there for me to learn here?
We lead by example and how we treat others sets the tone for what goes on in our teams. We can’t keep using the same old excuse of busyness to avoid building relationships with each other, chef.